The invention relates generally to liners used to prevent the intrusion of dust, mud, water, and other forms of debris (collectively “debris”). More specifically, the invention is a wheel liner apparatus (the “apparatus”) for use in a vehicle.
Vehicles use wheel liners for purposes of function as well as aesthetics. Wheel liners in the front of the vehicle can be used to keep debris from entering the engine compartment. Wheel liners in the rear of the vehicle can be used to keep debris outside of the deep body areas of the vehicle. Wheel liners can also impact the aesthetic appearance of the vehicle exterior as well as dampen sounds that would otherwise be experienced within the engine compartment of the vehicle.
Traditional Wheel Liner.
A traditional wheel liner is typically comprised of plastic that is either injection molded or thermoformed. Such a wheel liner is typically attached to the wheel areas of the vehicles through commercially standard attachment configurations. Unfortunately, the traditional wheel liner can result in an unacceptably noisy experience for human beings in the interior of the vehicle. Such wheel liners can also be aesthetically unattractive, diminishing the styling and aesthetic qualities of the vehicle.
Non-Woven Over-Patch.
One approach to addressing the problems a traditional wheel liner in the prior art is to add non-woven sound proofing patches on top of the surfaces of the wheel liner. While such an approach can effectively address the sound and aesthetic issues, the approach also results in extra weight as well as extra material costs as the wheel liner possess a double surface for much of the liner. Securely fastening the non-woven surface over substantially all of the thermoformed plastic wheel liner can complicate the manufacturing process and make it substantially more expensive as the conventional wheel liner can possess a largely irregular surface and the response of the underlying plastic frame to heat and other manufacturing processes may be distinctly different to the fiber or fabric inserts.
Non-Woven Structure.
Another alternative approach to the tradeoffs involving wheel liners is to replace the plastic structure of the wheel liner in its entirely and instead create a stand-alone structure using the non-woven material instead of using patches of such material on top of such a structure. This approach involves a substantially higher materials and manufacturing cost. Moreover, such an approach raises the requirements of non-standard additional mounting points.
In some ways, the inventive apparatus can be characterized as a non-obvious hybrid combination of all three of the prior art approaches outlined above. The combination is not obvious in light of the prior art for several reasons. The approach is counterintuitive with respect to the teachings of the prior art while enjoying synergistic results. For example, modularity is not a goal that the prior art is generally cognizant of in the context of wheel liners. Prior art manufacturing processes also teach away from the hybrid approach of the innovative apparatus. The desire to minimize costs also discourages experimentation with regards to the inventive approach.
The apparatus is described in greater detail below in the Summary of the Invention section.